eadily subscribe to the judgment of a disinguished traveller, who observes with reard to the temples of Ba'albek, that their rchitecture, though groaning beneath the eight of its own luxuriance and exhibitg in the numerous chapels, niches, friezes ad cornices, a display of that minutely ished workmanship, which, neglecting e noble proportions of Hellenic construcon, betrayed the decline of art among reeks and Romans-still leaves a deep d pleasing impression on the traveller, id fascinates his eyes alike by the granur of the forms, the exquisite finish of the tails, and highly picturesque effects of e general scenery.

All travellers describe the ruins of Ba'alk as superior to those of Palmyra and

erasa.

On our return we passed through the bterranean vaults which run beneath the ge platform, supporting the sanctuaries d the courts. They are built of imense square stones, and are two hundred ces in length and twenty-five in breadth, d communicate with each other by pasges. Large apertures for the admittance air from above, render them dry and cool; d from this cause they were formerly ed as an armory and magazine by the racens, though they are now neglected d so much obstructed by rubbish and nes, that we had some difficulty in findour way through their dark recesses the moat of the castle.

On the south-east of the temples tords the city of Ba'albek, stands a cirtar building with six projecting columns the Corinthian order, which support a rious cornice, ornamented with Cupids, iding garlands of flowers and fruits. is little rotunda, which may have beged to the famous ancient temple of nus Astarte, the powerful Syrian gods, was surmounted by a cupola; part its arched soffit still remains. It is of a ite marble or limestone. The workmanp is excellent, but the taste of its architure very bad, and so affected and odd t it involuntarily reminded me of the oco style of the age of Louis XIV. in The Greeks formerly used it as Christian church, having dedicated it to ta Barbara; but since the earthquake of 59, it is in a tottering condition. At noon we returned to the Greek con

nce.

vent, inhabited by the bishop, the only Christian minister in Ba'albek. A few rooms, open and airy, with a delightful view towards the temples, the plain, and the distant Mount Lebanon, had been provided for us, and Mustapha now attended with an excellent dinner.

In the afternoon we took a ride through the desolate city of Ba'albek, which, nearly abandoned to decay, still exhibits traces of its former importance. Its ruinous mosque, with broken minarets and sunken cupola, has a fine portico of red granite columns; its tanks, fountains, and baths are desolate, and the dark cypresses in the courts seem still to mourn over the fate of the devoted city.

The early history of Ba'albek or Heliopolis is enveloped in almost impenetrable darkness. David, King of Judah, conquered Damascus and held the sway of Syria. Solomon was said to have built Ba'albek and Tadmor (Palmyra) in the desert.* Heliolatry, or worship of the Sungod, existed there, says Macrobius, in the most remote antiquity; yet the most flourishing period of these cities, the time of the erection of the gorgeous temples, and of the power and wealth of the proud priesthood of Ba'al in Heliopolis, Emesa, and Palmyra, falls within the first two centuries of our era. Syria had then an exceedingly large population, and was full of rich and flourishing cities. Gaza, Ascalon, and Ptolemais, were celebrated mercantile ports. Aelia Capitolina, the venerable Jerusalem, though interdicted to the exiled Jews, began slowly to recover from its destruction, and was re-built by Hadrian. All professions, which required talent, ingenuity, and practice, were flourishing in Syria, and her intelligent and enterprising sons were dispersed over every part of the Roman Empire. The most distinguished musicians, stage-actors, mimics, and dancers, were found in Cæsarea, Tyre, Berytos, and Heliopolis. Laodicea was proud of her inimitable horsemen ; Lydda of her purple-dyers. The Syrian linen manufactures vied with those of Egypt. Gaza and Ascalon enjoyed the greatest export of wines and fruits. Science and philosophy flourished in Tarsus and

* And Solomon built Gezer and Beth-horon the nether, and Baalath and Tadmor in the wilderness. -1 Kings, ix. 17, 18.

ruin; the most precious monuments of ancient art perished, and the temples of Ba'albek no doubt would have shared the same fate, if Theodosius, himself an admirer and protector of architecture, had not interposed his powerful commands, and ordered the Syrian fanatics to desist. The great Pantheon and the temple of Ba'al were thus preserved and transformed into Christian churches. One hundred and forty-six years later came the Saracens. The Christian sanctuaries of Heliopolis, which by the Arabs again was called by its ancient Syrian name Ba'albek, became the residence of an Emir, and were built up into a strong fortress, which repelled all the predatory incursions of the Crusaders in the plain of the Buka'a. The terrible Timour-Khan, with his Mongols, stormed and took Ba'albek in 1401, on his march to Damascus. He found there immense stores of provisions and arms for the troops of the Mamluke Sultans of Egypt. The town continued flourishing even so late as the middle of the seventeenth century. Its central situation between Damascus, Beirut, and Tripolis, must have secured it some profit from the extensive trade carried on through the interior of Syria to the coast of the Mediterranean.

The Chevalier d'Arvieux, who visited Ba'albek in 1660, gives an interesting description of it in his memoirs of that time. The city was then large, and defended by walls and towers, which the hand of time and the indolence of the Osmanlis were leaving to decay. The houses were, on the contrary, though ancient, still in excellent condition. It seemed evident to the Chevalier that they had been built with taste and care by a people who had an affection for architecture, and knew how to appreciate its beauties. "We were all comfortably quartered in the khan," says he, "and we visited several houses belonging to our Arab acquaintance, where the arrangement of the apartments, and their distribution, embellishments, and furniture, were all kept up in the ancient Roman style. The inhabitants were Greek Christians. They had an archbishop, and several churches. The greatest number of them were cotton-weavers and dyers, who sent their manufactures to Damascus and Tripolis."

The well-known English pilgrim, Henry

Even

Thus the twelve hundred miserable inhabitants, whom M. de Volney saw in Ba'albek, are now reduced to a few families. During our stay there in 1844, we hardly met with a human being. There were neither bazars nor khans, but heaps of rubbish and ruins everywhere. the present Emir Mar-Kandjar has retired with his family and few retainers to the more populous village of Bereitan. According to the barometrical observations of Prof. Russegger, the city lies 3,490 feet above the level of the Mediterranean. Its site at the base of the Anti-Lebanon is picturesque and romantic in the highest degree; its climate is healthful, and its territory, well watered by the Litany and other rivulets, extends twelve hours through the upper plain towards the desert of Homs and the termination of the Anti-Lebanon. This more hilly part of the soil is stony and less fertile, but the southern tract towards Zahleh was formerly covered with cornfields and vineyards, which in the latter years have been destroyed during the encampments of the Egyptian troops in these regions.

It had been our intention to ascend Mount Lebanon by the road to Ainaiteh and the ancient cedars; but the Greek bishop, who, besides an elderly woman, was the

only denizen of the convent in which we lodged, dissuaded us from undertaking this route, not only because the passage of Jebel-Makmel was still covered with deep snow and no traveller had yet descended to Ba'albek by that road during the spring, but particularly because rumors had spread of a rebellion in that part of the mountain against the Turkish government. He therefore advised us to take the road to Zahleh, where on learning the true state of affairs in the country, we might cross the mountain by the easier pass of Jebel-Sunnin. Another difficulty arose: Mustapha, our dragoman, had never visited this part of Syria: he was therefore ignorant of the road, and we could not get any other guide in Ba'albek. We consequently resolved to pass through the plain to Zahleh. Having spent the whole evening and next morning most delightfully, among the templeruins, we took leave of our hospitable bishop and left Ba'albek at eight o'clock. We then crossed the rivulet, which in the plain unites with the Litany, descending from its headspring at Tell-Hushbein, a hill three miles west of the town. At an hour's ride from the temples we stopped a few moments near a curious octagonal building called KubbetDuris, which is evidently a modern fabric, made up with excellent materials from the ruins. It is surrounded by eight columns of a fine red granite; some have been placed with the upper part down. The architrave formed an octagon, and the cupola had fallen in.

The seven hours' ride through the Buka'a to Zahleh, situated in a narrow deep dell of the Lebanon, is exceedingly pleasant. The morning was bright; a light breeze swept across the open fields. Not a tree was to be seen, but a rich verdant carpet, checkered by brilliant flowers, covered the whole expanse. In the distance these fresh green tints were changed into a transparent lilac-colored haze, which softly enveloped the two mighty mountainridges, while the glittering snow of JebelMakmel and Sunnin and the deep clefts of Mount Hermon presented the sharpest and most distinct outline against the azure sky. Here and there herds of cattle and horses were grazing. We passed near the villages of Beit-Shamar and Temnin, and arrived at ten o'clock at the ford of the Tany, where in crossing the river the

restive mules broke loose from their drivers, and precipitated their burdens in the water. Canteens, trunks and tents, all went down in the greatest confusion, until the horsemen of our party with some difficulty recaptured the frolicking culprits, and collected the drenched luggage. We therefore encamped on the river-side, and in the afternoon continued our route along the base of Mount Lebanon to Kerak, a ruinous village looking out from a fine grove of cypresses, where Mohammedan tradition places the tomb of Noah. The building consists of two towers connected by a long portico of slender arches, which resembled more an aqueduct than a sepulchre. The Arab traditions from Genesis are numerous in this part of Syria. The abode of Adam, in the plain of Damascus, the altar and sepulchre of Abel, the tombs of Noah and Nimrod, and that of Moses on the mountains of Judah, are all consecrated by cupolas and tomb-stones, where the wandering Muslims dismount and devoutly perform their prayers. It is a curious tradition, that the ark of Noah rested on Jebel-Sunnin, where traces of it are still to be seen!*

We now arrived on the banks of the Barduny, a copious and limpid stream. issuing from a narrow glen in the Lebanon. Zahleh, a large city inhabited by eight or ten thousand Maronite Christians, is situ ated in a very picturesque and healthy site. on both sides of the river, in that part of the valley where it opens upon the ph of the Buka'a. Immense poplars skirt the banks of the stream, and give quite a nor ern character to the scenery. Crossing high stone bridge, we at five o'clock de mounted before the Greek convent, which several well furnished rooms wert most hospitably offered for our accommo dation. The view from the terrace of monastery towards the high frowning ro of the Jebel-Sunnin, to the deep dell on north-west, where on a precipice app another convent, embosomed in a grove black cypresses and beautiful vineyard and over the thriving town of Zahleh, eas

ark still exist on the summit of Mount An *The Greek priests believe that ruins a Armenia. When my friend Papa Kteas that I was going to the Holy Land, be qu** him back some splinters from the ark of Nouh ously requested me among other relies to